[292] ‘MTSU On the Record’ delves into the complicated mind of Edgar Allan Poe

MURFREESBORO — One of America’s greatest writers is the subject of an MTSU symposium and the next edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Harry Lee Poe, an indirect descendant of Edgar Allan Poe, will air from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, and from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org).

Harry Lee Poe, the Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, will speak at “A SymPoesium on Place,” which is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, in the Simmons Amphitheater of MTSU’s Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building.

The symposium will be a day-long exploration of the role locations play in Edgar Allan Poe’s prose and poetry that goes deeper than his pop culture image is the master of gruesome horror tales.

Experts will discuss the intellect and skill of the author of such staples of American literature as “The Cask of Amantillado,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” as well as poems such as “To Lenore, “Annabel Lee,” and “The Raven.”

A special exhibition of Edgar Allan Poe’s artifacts from Harry Lee Poe’s personal collection will be displayed in the special collections area on the fourth floor of the James E. Walker Library the day of the symposium. Dr. Poe will speak there at 5 p.m. with a reception to follow.

“What set Poe apart was the skill with which he told a story,” said Harry Lee Poe. “And, for Poe, if you’ll notice, the horror takes place offstage. … In Poe’s stories, everything is understated, and what he does is collaborate with the reader’s imagination so that the reader has to fill in part of the terror and part of the horror.”

Harry Lee Poe was president of The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe in Richmond, Virginia. He is author of “Evermore: Edgar Allan Poe and the Mystery of the Universe.”

To listen to previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to http://www.mtsunews.com/ontherecord/.

For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.